something I have rarely spoken about—which may seem strange because of the profession that I’m in— is that as a child I had a social worker and I was terrified of the power they had over my life and carried a deep sense of shame about their involvement with my family

this shame was very hard to shake even many years later. thankfully they only visited at home as I can’t imagine how humiliated I would’ve felt if I had to leave class to speak with them. it is essential as social workers that we reflect on the power that we have...

over children and their families and that we are always transparent and clear about the reason for involvement, our motivation and goals. if you haven’t been on the receiving end of social work this can be hard to fully understand but it is essential to interrogate our approach

and to act in a way which supports families, empowers service users and contributes to the health, functioning and well-being of families NOT as a means of judging, punishing or perpetuating institutional trauma #socialwork

with every question they asked I was thinking, why are they asking me this, what will they do with that information? it was almost impossible to be honest with them due to this fear as a young child.

thanks so much for all the kind words and supportive messages—bit blown away. if, like me, you’re committed to social justice and anti-racist practice where children and families are centred then keep an eye out for the work we’re doing w @swactionuk and get involved if u can